Baseball Quiz: Since 1900, only seven players have stolen at
least 95 bases in a season. Name them. Bonus question: In the
era 1988-2007, the highest single season batting average for a
pitcher was .356 in 1993, 26 for 73, yet over his long career he
hit just .201. Name him. Answers below.
Tiger and the Open
So just how serious is Tiger Woods’ knee? More and more are
saying what I did when we first learned Tiger was going under
the knife for a third time on the same knee; can he really make it
long enough to win another six majors to surpass Jack Nicklaus’
total?
The Star-Ledger’s Kevin Manahan interviewed a surgeon who
specializes in the field of sports medicine, Wayne Colizza, and
he said that without knowing all the specifics, because of Tiger’s
long 51-day layoff before he played a round of golf, “It sounds
like he had an articular cartilage injury. And if that’s the case, he
will be revisiting the operating room again pretty soon. With
that type of injury, it’s a guarded prognosis, but it can be
ominous. It’s probably going to shorten his career.”
Arnold Palmer, though, said he had a similar operation 20 years
ago and was playing eight weeks later and with no problems
since.
In his column for Golf Digest, Tiger said his knee had been
hurting him for quite a while, but when asked about the long-
term prognosis commented:
“Obviously, when you have three surgeries on the same knee,
you have to be smart…I put a lot of pressure on my left knee in
my swing, so I have to do everything I can to avoid hurting it
again. The good news is that I’m in very good physical shape,
and I’ve been through the rehab process before.”
Tiger said one thing is for sure and that is he’d cut down on
running as part of his regular training regimen.
Writer Jamie Diaz, though, pretty well summed it up in a column
for GolfWorld:
“It’s possible…we have seen the best of Tiger Woods. But
based on everything we know about the man, it is more probable
that the path will keep going up.”
We may learn a lot as to the future this week at Torrey Pines.
Tiger Bits
With his 13 major triumphs, Tiger has only five runner-up
finishes; compared to Jack Nicklaus who had 19 seconds to go
with his 18 major titles. I also saw this tidbit in GolfWeek.
In his 13 major wins, Tiger has never shot his best round of the
week in the final round. Jack, on the other hand, shot or tied his
best round of the week on Sunday five times.
From Kevin Manahan / Star-Ledger
“Woods has had ready excuses, used after he failed to win a few
recent majors. Before the U.S. Open in 2006, he said his father’s
death wouldn’t be a factor. When he missed the cut, he said it
was. After falling short in the U.S. Open last year, he revealed
his wife had entered a hospital, waiting to deliver. After he
wasn’t a factor at the Masters in April, Woods announced he
needed knee surgery – which, of course, gives him another free
pass if he can’t win this week.”
As an aside on the Open itself, Josh P. notes that while we’re
enjoying Torrey Pines on television, spectators will be forced to
park 15 miles away and be bussed amidst what more than likely
will be horrendous traffic.
The Assassination of RFK, Part I
On Monday, June 3, 1968, Robert Kennedy touched every major
media market in California in an exhausting day, with the
primary to follow June 4. Kennedy went from Los Angeles to
San Francisco for a noon-time motorcade through Chinatown,
down to Long Beach for another motorcade, on to San Diego for
a rally and back to Los Angeles. The final California poll had
him ahead of Eugene McCarthy, 36-31, with 15 percent for the
pro-Hubert Humphrey slate. But that left a lot of voters
undecided.
In his book “The Year the Dream Died: Revisiting 1968 in
America,” author Jules Witcover, who was traveling with RFK,
notes that about three blocks into the Chinatown motorcade, “six
sharp claps suddenly were heard. Ethel (Kennedy) jumped down
and sat on the seat, hunched over, but the candidate remained
standing, waving and shaking outstretched hands, as if bracing
himself. The claps turned out to be the sound of large
firecrackers, like cherry bombs, much louder than what would
have come from, for example, a .22 caliber revolver. At
Kennedy’s direction, a friend jumped into the back seat to steady
Ethel.”
Witcover writes that many in the entourage were unsettled by the
incident, “not being able to distinguish between firecrackers
going off and gunshots. To seasoned users of firearms, however,
it probably would have been easy – for instance, to the short,
dark young man with black bushy hair who at this hour was seen
at the San Gabriel Valley Gun Club in Duarte, a suburb of Los
Angeles, rapidly firing 300 or 400 rounds of .22 caliber bullets
from a revolver. In doing so, he was violating the range’s rules
requiring shooters to pause between shots. For that reason, a
college student and playground director named Henry Carreon,
practicing about five feet to his right with a friend, David
Montellano, asked the young man what kind of revolver he was
using. When the fellow ignored him, he asked again. ‘An Iver
Johnson,’ he said.”
[This same day, Andy Warhol was shot in the chest and abdomen
by 28-year-old aspiring actress Valerie Solanis, whose movie
script had been rejected by Warhol. He recovered, after two
months in the hospital following surgery. Incredibly, Solanis
pleaded guilty yet received a sentence of only three years.]
Back in San Francisco, RFK’s motorcade ended up at
Fisherman’s Wharf, where he spoke to a small gathering of
Italian-Americans at DiMaggio’s Restaurant. [Ed. I still have a
matchbook from a trip to DiMaggio’s, 1967, if I recall correctly.]
Then it was on to Long Beach, where Kennedy aide Fred Dutton
asked him how he was feeling after a lackluster performance. It
was decided to watch the senator because of the strain of weeks
of pressure and being mobbed physically day after day.
Witcover:
“The motorcade sped through Watts, taking side streets to make
up time on a schedule slipping badly. But the route was taken
also to dodge large, predominantly black crowds on the major
roads whose usually welcome wild enthusiasm might unsettle
white suburban voters watching the television coverage.”
Kennedy was feeling worse and Dutton got him a six-pack of
ginger ale which RFK proceeded to down. It was then on to San
Diego for what was to be the final event of the California
primary and some celebrity friends, including singers Andy
Williams and Rosemary Clooney, were there to entertain the
crowd.
“Kennedy decided to go right on. He raced through his standard
speech, stopped abruptly and then walked to the steps leading
from the stage and sat down on the top step, his face buried in his
hands. At first, his aides thought he was merely reacting
emotionally to the end of the hard direct primary trail. Rafer
Johnson and Bill Barry hustled him down a corridor behind the
stage and into a small dressing room. He leaned against a sink
until his wife and Dutton joined him. In a few minutes he came
out, went back and spoke to the crowd again in a more traditional
windup. ‘For the benefit of my friends on the left,’ he said,
looking at the press entourage, ‘I want to add, as George Bernard
Shaw once said, ‘Some men see things as they are and say,
‘Why?’ I dream things that never were and say, ‘Why not?’’
Then he took a seat next to his wife and listened as Andy
Williams sang.”
The Kennedy’s then took a final flight back to Los Angeles. It
was subdued, as the traveling party felt almost as exhausted as
the candidate did. Upon landing, the family went to the home of
director John Frankenheimer in Malibu to spend the night and
primary day, relaxing with the six children present.
The rest of the traveling party went to the Ambassador Hotel, the
campaign headquarters for primary night. Witcover and others
covering RFK began an impromptu party to mark the end of the
California portion of the campaign. “We moved to the
Kennedys’ unoccupied suite and continued for another hour or
so, doing considerable damage to their liquor supply….We
pinned a note of thanks to a pillow on the candidate’s bed before
departing.”
On Tuesday, RFK slept late and even though the day was chilly
and overcast, he plunged into the ocean, joined by some of the
kids. Then the early exit polls began to come in, showing
Kennedy running ahead with about 49 percent. Tuesday night
they all gathered at the Ambassador with a horde of staff, friends,
and a few favored reporters. South Dakota was also holding its
primary then and Fred Dutton learned Kennedy was a
comfortable winner there, taking 50 percent to Humphrey’s 30
and McCarthy’s 20.
Anxious for the returns that would show him the winner, but
with Los Angeles County, RFK territory, not coming in as yet,
Kennedy did an interview with Roger Mudd. You have to
remember that despite the glowing looks back you’ve seen of the
events of 40 years ago, Kennedy, like Hillary Clinton, had a
ruthless streak and Mudd was trying to draw out his combative
side. Mudd asked if Humphrey’s delegates were “squeezable?
Are they solid?” Kennedy, relaxed, laughed. “Roger, your
language! I don’t like either of those expressions.” After two
more interviews, Kennedy went back to his suite to await more
results.
Witcover:
“For some time earlier, the short, dark young man who had been
test-firing a handgun at the San Gabriel Valley Gun club had
been wandering around the Ambassador Hotel, dropping in on
some election night parties for statewide California candidates
and finally wandering into the Kennedy party. Outside the
Venetian Room, drink in hand, he walked up to a hotel
electrician named Hans Bidstrup and asked him if he was a
Democrat. When Bidstrup told him he was, the young man
thrust out his hand and said: ‘Shake hands with another
Democrat.’ He sauntered about, making small talk with others in
the crowd, wandering into the Colonial Room where members of
the Kennedy press corps were working, and then into the kitchen
pantry just beyond. It was near midnight when he asked a hotel
busboy, Jesus Perez: ‘Is Mr. Kennedy coming this way?’ The
busboy said he didn’t know.”
Part II, Monday.
Stuff
–Former NBA ref Tim Donaghy, about to be sentenced on July
14 on felony charges he took cash payoffs from gamblers and bet
on NBA games himself, sent a letter to the court alleging referees
other than Donaghy altered games in 2005, specifically the first-
round playoff series between the Houston Rockets and Dallas
Mavericks.
In the letter from Donaghy’s attorney, it reads:
“Team 3 lost the first two games in the series and Team 3’s
Owner complained to NBA officials. Team 3’s Owner alleged
that referees were letting a Team 4 player get away with illegal
screens. NBA Executive Y told Referee Supervisor Z that the
referees for that game were to enforce the screening rules strictly
against that Team 4 player. Referee Supervisor Z informed the
referees about his instructions. As an alternate referee for that
game, Tim also received those instructions.”
Another game referenced was a 2002 Game 6 contest between
the Lakers and Sacramento Kings for the Western Conference
finals. The game was refereed by three veterans, Dick Bavetta,
Ted Bernhardt and Bob Delaney, and according to Donaghy, the
league directed the three to “manipulate” the outcome in order to
“boost ticket sales and television ratings.” The Lakers won,
shooting 27 free throws in the fourth quarter, forcing a Game 7,
with the Lakers then going on to win the series and defeat the
Nets for the title.
NBA Commissioner David Stern called the allegations
“baseless.”
–Michelle Wie, in a little reminder of what once was, qualified
for the Women’s U.S. Open by carding rounds of 70 and 67 in a
36-hole qualifier. Evidently, with her sore wrist mending, she
has been spending 9-12 hours a day practicing with David
Leadbetter. Let’s face it, especially with Annika likely to keep
her word on retirement, the LPGA could soar if a rejuvenated
Michelle joined Lorena, Paula and Natalie.
–Some stats on the overall health of the sport of golf, from a few
surveys noted in the July issue of Golf Digest. The National
Sporting Goods Association shows golf’s player pool shrank 7.3
percent from 2003 to 2007, while the National Golf Foundation’s
latest data shows rounds played are down 3.5 percent for the first
quarter of 2008 and basically flat since 2005. Club
manufacturers, however, saw sales rise in the 7 to 9 percent
range in 2007 over 2006, a trend that has carried over into ’08
thanks to the latest wave of new drivers. [I purchased a Titleist
G10 myself two months ago.]
Meanwhile, from 2003 to 2007, participation in tennis rose 28
percent, while alpine skiing declined 19 percent. [Snowboarding
was up 53 percent for the same period.]
–The PGA Tour is pulling its deal with the Atlanta stop next
year, the event having been played since 1968, due to lack of
sponsorship. It will keep the Tour Championship at East Lake
Golf Club, though, but in setting its schedule for 2009, one
possibility for the Atlanta opening is the existing Valero Texas
Open in San Antonio. Which would leave their later date open,
so I’m thinking the “Bar Chat Open, sponsored by The Good
Taste of Beer…it comes in a bottle.”
–College World Series…play begins Saturday in Omaha.
No. 1 Miami (Fla.) vs. No. 8 Georgia
No. 2 North Carolina vs. No. 7 LSU
No. 4 Florida State vs. Stanford
No. 6 Rice vs. Fresno State
No. 3 Arizona State was upset by Fresno State
So, with three ACC teams still in the running, will this finally be
the year the ACC wins its first title since little ol’ Wake Forest in
1955? [Miami won in 2001 before it was admitted to the
conference.]
Last few champions…
2003…Rice
2004…Cal St. Fullerton
2005…Texas
2006…Oregon State
2007…Oregon State [first since LSU (1996-97) to repeat]
–The New York Giants’ Michael Strahan is going out a winner
after 15 years with the team, except for the fact he still has to
deal with his Jan. 2007 divorce settlement that set him back $15
million – more than half his net worth at the time. Strahan will,
however, receive a lucrative broadcasting contract soon (like
probably before you read this).
–I love this bit from Ben Shpigel of the New York Times
concerning the Mets and their predicament in trailing the
Phillies.
“Chase Utley may very well become the third straight Phillies
player to be selected as the league’s most valuable player. Ryan
Howard has resumed his terrorizing of National League pitching.
Their bullpen owns the majors’ best earned run average, 2.58 –
the Mets’ is 3.81 – despite playing home games in a ballpark
roughly the size of a Burger King.”
The Mets are now 84-89 since May 31, 2007.
And as expected, outfielder Ryan Church was finally placed on
the DL, this after he had shown zero improvement since his
second concussion, and by some reports is doing worse. It is
both scary and potentially tragic that the Mets risked his career
by not sitting him down after the second incident, despite all the
stories from their neighbor, the New York Jets, on the effects of
multiple concussions.
Brian Lewis of the New York Post cited Stephen Rice, MD,
PhD, and director of the Jersey Shore Sports Medicine Center.
“We’ve learned a lot about concussions, but we have to be
willing to do what we know is the right thing. Under pressure of
reality sometimes you end up going there.”
The Mets say they took all the appropriate precautions following
the second concussion as Church saw multiple neurologists and
had MRIs and CT scans showing no damage. But Dr. Babak
Morvarid, a neurologist at Columbia Presbyterian and
Hackensack University Medical Center, said MRIs aren’t
sufficient.
“It’s not unusual for the MRI to be normal; more often than not it
is. In general, with my patients for a mild concussion I
recommend a week off. In contact sports, you’re taking a chance
of a repeat injury.”
Dr. Rice said: “This stuff is not a mystery to specialists….The
problem is sometimes situations make you feel hurried, like you
have to do something. That’s the difficulty that comes up;
sometimes you don’t always do everything in retrospect you
wish you had.”
This story is far from over, and boy do the Mets need a healthy
Church these days.
–From the New York Daily News’ steroid investigation team:
“He told little white lies…and he took little blue pills.
“Roger Clemens, whose claims he never took steroids are under
federal investigation, has apparently discovered the benefits of
another performance-enhancing drug sweeping the sports world
– Viagra.
“Clemens stashed the clearly marked, diamond-shaped pills in a
GNC vitamin bottle in his locker at Yankee Stadium, according
to a source familiar with the clubhouse, perhaps keeping the drug
undercover to avoid the inevitable wisecracks about all the
girlfriends he needed to please.”
But the News goes on to note that Viagra has become one of the
hottest drugs in locker rooms. It is “so widely used for off-label
purposes that it has drawn the attention of anti-doping officials
and law-enforcement agencies in the United States and beyond.”
“ ‘All my athletes took it,’ BALCO founder Victor Conte said.
‘It’s bigger than creatine. It’s the biggest product in nutritional
supplements.’”
Among the off-label uses, Viagra:
Helps build endurance, especially for athletes competing at high
altitudes; delivers oxygen to muscles more efficiently;
counteracts impotence that can be a side-effect of testosterone
injections.
Viagra is totally legal and not banned by MLB or other leagues.
Nonetheless, the World Anti-Doping Agency is funding a new
study to determine if Viagra can be used to cheat.
Barry Bonds used it to counteract sexual dysfunction, according
to former mistress Kimberly Bell, but he didn’t like it because it
stuffed up his nose…….and that’s a memo.
–Speaking of little blue pills and sex…ripped from Page Six of
the New York Post.
“The noose appears to be tightening around sex-crazed ex-Gov.
Eliot Spitzer.
“The federal case against him is so strong that prosecutors had no
interest in striking cooperation agreements with the ringleader of
Spitzer’s hooker-supplier, Emperors Club VIP, and his second in
command, sources told The Post.”
Prosecutors are ready to file charges for violating prostitution
laws as well as money laundering.
–From Agence France-Presse
“A mob lynched four members of a family in India’s northeast in
the belief that the victims had practiced witchcraft, police said.”
A lot of this stuff is taking place these days. Very troubling.
–Eliot Asinof, author of “Eight Men Out,” the story on the 1919
Black Sox scandal, died in Hudson, NY. He was 88.
In researching his groundbreaking 1963 book, which was turned
into a movie in 1988, Asinof included interviews with the two
members of the team then still alive, Joe Jackson and Happy
Feltsch. As the New York Times’ Bruce Weber writes, “In the
end, ‘Eight Men Out’ was a book that made plain the connection
between sport and money and between sport and the
underworld….In the Camelot of the Kennedy 1960s, the book
also made plain, if only by inference, the unsavory potential in
American culture, a theme that ran throughout Mr. Asinof’s
work.”
–Boy, was I (and countless others) wrong about the Tigers this
year. I was raving about the trade that brought Dontrelle Willis
and Miguel Cabrera to Motown, for example, yet as I write the
Tigers are ten games under .500 and Dontrelle has just been sent
down to Class A (not AAA, single A) to get his act together after
giving up 21 walks in 11 innings.
–We note the passing of Petal at the age of 52. Petal, who lived
most of her life at the Philadelphia Zoo, was the oldest African
elephant in a U.S. zoo. Officials said she had been in excellent
health and offered no cause of death. Petal’s family back in
Africa has hired counsel.
Top 3 songs for the week 6/10/72: #1 “The Candy Man”
(Sammy Davis Jr.) #2 “I’ll Take You There” (The Staple
Singers) #3 “Oh Girl” (Chi-Lites)…and…#4 “Song Sung Blue”
(Neil Diamond) #5 “Sylvia’s Mother” (Dr. Hook & The
Medicine Show) #6 “Nice To Be With You” (Gallery) #7 “The
First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” (Roberta Flack…from “Play
Misty for Me”…Clint’s flick…though these days, with Clint’s
duel with Spike Lee, the song might be re-titled “The First Time
Ever I Asked You To Shut Your Face”) #8 “Morning Has Broken”
(Cat Stevens) #9 “Outa-Space” (Billy Preston) #10 “(Last
Night) I Didn’t Get To Sleep At All” (The 5th Dimension)
Baseball Quiz Answers: Stolen bases…players with 95 in a
season since 1900.
Rickey Henderson…130, 108, 100
Lou Brock…118
Vince Coleman…110, 109, 107
Maury Wills…104
Ron LeFlore…97
Ty Cobb…96
Omar Moreno…96
Bonus question: Orel Hershiser hit .356 in 1993, the highest
average for a pitcher from 1988-2007.
Next Bar Chat, Monday.
